Industry Glossary
Speak the Language of the Trade
The sixteen terms that appear in every serious minerals negotiation - defined in one line each.
- ›TREO
- Total Rare Earth Oxides - the headline grade of a concentrate; necessary but never sufficient without the element distribution.
- ›Distribution
- The element-by-element percentage breakdown within TREO - where a lot's real value hides.
- ›NdPr
- Neodymium-praseodymium, the magnet-metal pair that typically carries 60–85% of a light rare earth basket's value.
- ›Basket price
- A concentrate's contained value computed element-by-element against published oxide assessments.
- ›Payables
- The negotiated percentage of basket value actually paid for concentrate, reflecting processing costs and impurities.
- ›COA
- Certificate of Analysis - the independent laboratory certificate that prices and settles each lot.
- ›Umpire sample
- A sealed third sample retained at loading; a pre-named laboratory analyzes it to settle assay disputes.
- ›NORM
- Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material - the regulatory category triggered by thorium content in minerals like monazite.
- ›HREE / LREE
- Heavy and light rare earth elements - the split that drives prices, supply risk and geopolitics.
- ›mtu
- Metric ton unit (10 kg of contained WO₃) - how tungsten concentrate is conventionally priced.
- ›TC/RC
- Treatment and refining charges - the smelter's conversion margin deducted in copper concentrate pricing.
- ›Incoterms
- ICC trade terms (FOB, CIF, DAP…) defining where cost and risk pass between seller and buyer.
- ›L/C
- Letter of credit - a bank's irrevocable undertaking to pay against compliant shipping documents.
- ›TML
- Transportable Moisture Limit - the IMSBC Code safety threshold governing whether concentrate cargo may sail.
- ›3TG
- Tin, tungsten, tantalum, gold - the conflict minerals subject to OECD/RMI due-diligence frameworks.
- ›CRMA
- The EU Critical Raw Materials Act - 2030 benchmarks for extraction, processing, recycling and supplier diversification.